What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for September 16, 2013. 

This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
of Communications.  You may need to sign in or register with
individual websites to view some of the following news articles.

AIR POLLUTION

E.P.A. Is Expected to Set Limits on Greenhouse Gas Emissions by
New Power Plants.  Following up on President Obama’s pledge in
June to address climate change, the Environmental Protection
Agency plans next week to propose the first-ever limits on
greenhouse gas emissions from newly built power plants. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/epa-is-expected-to-set-limits-on-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-new-power-plants.html

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/New-US-rules-on-coal-emissions-due-this-week-4816047.php
 
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/obama-prepares-to-take-on-big-coal-96833.html#ixzz2f4ibOLFT
  
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059987279/print  BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

Post to pay $2M for violations at CA cereal plant. A Central
California cereal plant will have to spend more than $2 million
for violating federal air quality rules. The Environmental
Protection Agency says Friday that Post Holdings Inc. and Ralcorp
Holdings Inc. will pay a $635,000 penalty for failing to install
air pollution controls at its cereal plant in Modesto. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/13/5734853/post-to-pay-2m-for-violations.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/13/5734084/epa-fines-modesto-cereal-plant.html

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/EPA-fines-Modesto-cereal-plant-over-air-pollution-4812983.php

http://www.modbee.com/2013/09/14/2920906/another-penalty-set-for-modesto.html
 
http://www.examiner.com/article/modesto-cereal-plant-to-close-after-air-pollution-violation-settlement?cid=rss

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130914/A_NEWS/309140323&cid=sitesearch
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/sep/13/post-to-pay-2m-for-violations-at-ca-cereal-plant/#ixzz2f4dd6WjG


Emissions to be monitored on major Bay Area roads.  In her West
Oakland home, Margaret Gordon never opens the windows facing the
streets. From dawn to dusk, cars and trucks roar across the
overhead stretch of Interstate 880 a few blocks away. Gordon has
learned to sleep through the noise. But with her asthma, she
cannot stand the exhaust fumes. "I keep that window closed," said
Gordon, 66, a 20-year resident and leader of a West Oakland
environmental group. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Emissions-to-be-monitored-on-major-Bay-Area-roads-4816992.php


Emissions of largest corporations grow – study. The global
economic recovery has produced mixed results for businesses
trying to reduce their carbon footprints, according to the latest
annual survey of some of the world's largest companies by the
British nonprofit CDP. While overall emissions of greenhouse
gases from CDP's "Global 500" have shrunk from 4.2 billion to 3.6
billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent since
2009…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059987243/print BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

CLIMATE CHANGE

Author warns about climate change at CA conference. Author Bill
McKibben has opened a Sierra Nevada conservation conference with
a call for a "coordinated, global" effort to deal with climate
change. McKibben, in a keynote address at the Sierra Nevada
Alliance's annual conference in South Lake Tahoe, said change
being made on the local level to deal with climate change will do
little good unless it's accompanied by change on a global level.
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/14/5735606/author-warns-about-climate-change.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_24096270/author-warns-about-climate-change-at-ca-conference?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_24096270/author-warns-about-climate-change-at-ca-conference?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
 
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/09/14/3497336/author-warns-about-climate-change.html


CA, Chinese officials announce climate deal. Gov. Jerry Brown and
China's top climate negotiator on Friday signed the first
agreement between a U.S. state and China that seeks greater
cooperation on clean energy technologies and research meant to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The memorandum of understanding
signed with China's National Development and Reform Commission
was another aggressive move by California to combat climate
change. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/CA-Chinese-officials-announce-climate-deal-4813079.php
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059987278/print  BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY 

DIESEL EMISSIONS

Air board has allies in diesel pollution crackdown: Truckers.
Truckers want tougher enforcement and point to competitors who
violate state rules to install filters or upgrade to cleaner
engines. As state air pollution officials step up inspections of
diesel exhaust from big rigs, some of their best allies are
truckers themselves. They are pushing the Air Resources Board to
enforce pollution rules more aggressively for trucks in advance
of a Jan. 1 deadline. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-air-inspectors-20130916,0,6307700,print.story


FUELS

Wall St. Exploits Ethanol Credits, and Prices Spike.  It was
supposed to help clean the air, reduce dependence on foreign oil
and bolster agriculture. But a little known market in ethanol
credits has also become a hot new game on Wall Street. The
federal government created the market in special credits tied to
ethanol eight years ago when it required refiners to mix ethanol
into gasoline or buy credits from companies that do so. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/business/wall-st-exploits-ethanol-credits-and-prices-spike.html?ref=earth


Alaska Airlines ranked first for fuel efficiency. If reducing
your carbon footprint is a priority, Alaska Airlines may be the
carrier for you. In its first efficiency study, the International
Council on Clean Transportation ranked the Seattle-based carrier
as the nation’s most fuel-efficient major airline, followed by
low-cost Spirit Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. Alaska was 26%
more fuel-efficient than the least efficient airline, Allegiant
Air, according to the study, released last week. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-alaska-airlines-ranked-first-for-fuel-efficiency-20130913,0,6436745.story


VEHICLES

Ford to install electric vehicle charging stations for employees.
Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on
Monday it will install charging stations at more than 50 of its
U.S. and Canadian offices and plants so that employees can refill
their electric vehicle batteries at work. The second-largest U.S.
automaker said it will start installing the charging stations and
their 200 chargers in November, at nearly every Ford facility in
the United States and Canada, and roll them out through 2014.
Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/16/us-autos-ford-evs-idUSBRE98F01T20130916

 
GREEN ENERGY

British energy official in U.S. to trade ideas. Energy efficiency
has never been headline news, but it matters, and California is
respected the world over for its pioneering advances in this
field. Finding ways to make our energy go further is vital in a
world of diminishing resources and increasing energy prices. I'm
in California for a few days to learn what you in California, the
leading low carbon state in the United States, are working on.
Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/British-energy-official-in-U-S-to-trade-ideas-4816788.php


Salem VA Medical Center will soon use solar power.  The largest
solar energy project in Southwest Virginia is nearing completion
at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem. On what used to
be a landfill at the eastern edge of the hospital campus, 6,000
solar panels are being installed. The panels will convert
sunlight into as much as 1,620 kilowatts of electricity — enough
to provide about 10 percent of the power to the sprawling VA
complex. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2013/09/14/2915360/salem-va-medical-center-will-soon.html#storylink=cpy


Solar rises as a sub for nuclear option.  A major question coming
out of Monday’s multi-agency meeting on how Southern California
will replace the 2,200 megawatts of power previously generated by
the San Onofre nuclear power plant was whether it can be done
with a mix of renewables, energy efficiency and transmission
upgrades versus building new natural gas power plants.  Posted. 
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20130914/BUSINESS0302/309140024/Green-Desert-Solar-rises-sub-nuclear-option


MISCELLANEOUS

Celebrating Craig Childers: A Powerful Force for Electric Car
Regulation.  The electric car world lost one of its great unsung
heroes on Aug. 22, when Craig Childers died at the age of 57.
Childers—a rare breed of hands-on EV enthusiast, mechanical
engineer, battery expert and public servant—helped develop
California’s zero emissions regulation, arguably the essential
catalyzing mandate that spurred the world’s automakers to produce
and sell cars that run on electrons instead of hydrocarbons. 
Posted. 
http://www.plugincars.com/celebrating-craig-childers-powerful-force-electric-car-legislation-128289.html


Bad year in Sacramento for environmental measures. Environmental
groups were excited last week when a key bill they worked on all
year came up for a final vote in Sacramento. The measure would
have allowed the California Coastal Commission to fine people who
illegally block public access to beaches, destroy wetlands or
build homes without permits -- rather than having to take them to
court. But at the last minute, eight Democrats, including three
from Bay Area coastal districts…Posted.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_24092156/bad-year-sacramento-environmental-measures?source=rss


OPINIONS

COLUMN-EU law unclear on integrating renewable power: Wynn. The
lack of clear rules and targets for the integration of renewable
power in the European Union risks slower adoption at higher cost.
The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive is responsible for driving
rapid growth in the sector by setting each member state a
mandatory target for producing non-fossil-fuel energy. (Chart 1)
In the case of electricity, the directive also required priority
grid access and integration of renewable power…Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/16/column-wynn-germany-solar-idUSL5N0HC13P20130916


Bipartisan Pettiness on Climate Change. House Republicans will
hold their first hearing on climate change in more than two years
this week. Sadly, its focus is unlikely to be sensible strategies
that are sorely needed to reduce the U.S.’s greenhouse-gas
emissions, such as setting a price on carbon, but rather how
existing efforts to protect the climate are too expensive.
Representative Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican and chairman
of the Energy and Commerce…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-16/bipartisan-pettiness-on-climate-change.html


Target: Natural Gas. The oil and gas fracking boom increased
household disposable income by $1,200 last year as lower energy
costs flowed to consumers, according to a new study from IHS
Global Insight. So Americans may want to know that President
Obama's nominee to chair the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) thinks natural gas is a "dead end." That nominee is Ron
Binz, and in March 2013 he spoke at an Edison Foundation panel on
utilities and green technologies. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324009304579043063675186946.html?KEYWORDS=climate+change

Dialing Back the Alarm on Climate Change. A forthcoming report
points lowers estimates on global warming.  Later this month, a
long-awaited event that last happened in 2007 will recur. Like a
returning comet, it will be taken to portend ominous happenings.
I refer to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC)
"fifth assessment report," part of which will be published on
Sept. 27. Posted.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324549004579067532485712464.html?KEYWORDS=global+warming


Don’t blame climate change for extreme weather. Bjørn Lomborg, an
adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, directs the
Copenhagen Consensus Center. He is the author of “The Skeptical
Environmentalist,” “Cool It” and, most recently, “How Much Have
Global Problems Cost the World? A Scorecard From 1900 to 2050.”
One of the most persistent claims in the climate debate is that
global warming leads to more extreme weather. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bjorn-lomborg-dont-blame-climate-change-for-extreme-weather/2013/09/13/4b770d48-117e-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_print.html


To Reduce Warming, Start With College Divestment.  Divestment
from fossil energy holdings strikes some as extreme. If that were
true, it would be fitting: we are faced with an extreme problem.
Consciously carrying out a destructive and irreversible type of
geoengineering on the planet — which is what we are doing with
carbon dioxide emissions — strikes me as being more extreme.
Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/opinion/to-reduce-warming-start-with-college-divestment.html


The Green Way: How to limit your in-car pollution exposure.  Now
I have proof.  Driving in traffic with the windows down or with
the roadside air being sucked into the passenger cabin is bad for
your lung health.  Real bad.  That’s what I’ve been telling my
family for years but have felt like the boy who cried wolf. 
Until now.  Posted. 
http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20130914/the-green-way-how-to-limit-your-in-car-pollution-exposure


California’s solution to global warming.  The California
Legislature passed and then-Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as AB32.  The law was
designed to ensure total California greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions in 2020 are no greater than GHG emissions were in 1990.
Since man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are believed to
cause global warming, the reduction of anthropogenic CO2 is a
focus of AB32.  Since passage of the law, CO2 emissions in
California have declined each year.  Posted. 
http://santamariatimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/commentary/california-s-solution-to-global-warming/article_556ab4f6-1dab-11e3-a1d0-0019bb2963f4.html


Does coal mean electric cars are bad? No, it's the other way
around. Coal may make electric cars dirtier to run in the short
term, Voelcker writes. But, in the long term, its electric cars
that help make the case for rendering coal obsolete. Every so
often, electric-car skeptics will attack the idea of using grid
electricity to power a car by bringing up coal. "Yeah," the
argument goes, "but you're just burning coal instead of gasoline
in your electric car--so how's that any better?" Posted.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2013/0915/Does-coal-mean-electric-cars-are-bad-No-it-s-the-other-way-around/%28page%29/2


BLOGS

Nissan Leaf EV ready for certified pre-owned program. Consider
this week a cosmic passing of the torch. As legendary Southern
California auto dealer Cal Worthington (sans his dog Spot) left
this world for that great dealership in the sky, Nissan was
making preparations for its all-electric Leaf to make its debut
in the realm where good 'ol Cal reigned supreme: the used car
lot. Posted.
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/09/13/nissan-leaf-ev-ready-for-certified-pre-owned-program/


How a two-stroke engine works.  Used in leaf blowers, lawn
mowers, chain saws, mopeds and jet skis, the two-stroke engine is
lightweight and powerful
— but it's one inefficient, dirty little machine.  With an
upstroke and a downstroke, the engine completes one cycle of
internal combustion; hence the name. Automobile engines require
four strokes to complete a cycle and are much heavier because
they require extra systems and components, which make them
cleaner and more efficient.  Posted. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/leafblower/index.html
 

Bills will make it easier for Californians to buy and sell solar
power.  No rooftop? No yard? No problem!  All Californians will
be able to invest in solar and wind projects to reduce their
power costs and their carbon footprints under a bill awaiting
Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) signature.  “SB 43 will allow the millions
of Californians who cannot install their own solar unit,
windmill…Posted. 
http://grist.org/news/bills-will-make-it-easier-for-californians-to-buy-and-sell-solar-power/
 

America warming up to new hydropower.  Flooding an area with a
new reservoir to produce hydropower would seldom, if ever, be a
popular idea with environmentalists. But what about the thousands
of existing reservoirs that serve other purposes in America — the
ones that control floods, entertain boaters, and store drinking
water?  Funneling water from those reservoirs over newly
installed turbines could be a relatively benign way of boosting
zero-carbon hydroelectric power supplies.  Posted. 
http://grist.org/news/america-warming-up-to-new-hydropower/  

Ask Umbra: Which carbon-offset programs are best?  Q. Dear Umbra,
I know carbon offsets don’t give us a “free pass” to travel by
car and plane and consume indiscriminately. However, I’d still
like to offset the travel that I must do and would like to know
what new or extant programs are best. Thanks for your advice.  A.
Dearest Heather, It must be Serious Issues Month here at Ask
Umbra headquarters. First we had Fukushima, then GMO beets, then
natural gas, now carbon offsets. Posted. 
http://grist.org/living/ask-umbra-which-carbon-offset-programs-are-best/